Partnerships Smooth Out “Sharp Corners and Pinch Points”
By Malcolm Ramsay
Plotting routes, securing permits and moving giant turbine blades along narrow rural roads with sharp turns were just some of the challenges for Collett & Sons during the delivery of oversized cargo to the Drumlins Park Wind Farm in Ireland.
From Issue 2, 2024 of Breakbulk Magazine.
County Monaghan in the northeast of Ireland is known for its windswept landscapes, making it the ideal location for a wind farm, but with many narrow, winding roads it is not best suited for delivery of outsized components. This was the task faced by a group of logistics experts when turbine blades measuring over 60 meters in length and ancillary equipment was scheduled for delivery to the new Drumlins Park Wind Farm.
Located near the small village of Newbliss, around 60 kilometers from the coast, this new wind farm is under development by Irish utility Energia and will generate 49 megawatts of renewable energy, supplying enough electricity for around 34,000 Irish households. Consisting of eight wind turbines in its first phase, the site was granted planning permission in 2020 with first construction beginning in 2022.
By the summer of 2023, the ground was prepared for arrival of the largest components and heavy haulage firm Collett & Sons was selected to carry out the difficult logistics.
“Our Renewables Department bid for the project submitting a quote and once selected we proceeded to conduct detailed pre-planning to identify potential challenges along the transportation route,” Roy Edmondson, project manager at Collett & Sons, told Breakbulk.
This planning stage involved comprehensive route surveys and detailed analysis to identify essential modifications, such as tree pruning and adjustments to street furniture, all designed to ensure a safe delivery process. In total, the project required delivery of 88 components with each turbine unit comprised of 11 components, including three blades, three blade tips and five tower sections.
The main bulk of the cargo consisted of blade and tower section components for eight GE 158RD turbines. These giant turbines each have a span of over 60 meters once constructed, which will make them one of the longest blades of any turbine in Ireland once complete.
“This is the first time GE Renewable Energy’s 6.1-megawatt onshore wind turbine will be used in Ireland,” a spokesperson for GE Renewables said. “We’re pleased to be working with Energia Group contributing to Ireland’s Climate Action Plan and help the country reach its net-zero pledge.”
The agreement between Energia and GE includes a 25-year full-service contract, and the site itself is projected to have a 30-year operational life.
Careful Preparation
Given the scale of the pieces, the project required careful coordination and Collett & Sons deployed a dedicated team of eight professionals to ensure the smooth running at all stages. This team comprised a project manager overseeing all deliveries, three truck drivers, three escort vehicle drivers, and a tow truck driver. The project manager also ensured continuous communication between all partners to make sure everyone was aligned at each step.
“A daily meeting was held containing all required partners to keep everyone in the loop with regards to delivery dates, times and what components were being delivered,” Edmondson noted.
Having studied numerous potential paths to deliver the cargo, Collett identified a route via the Port of Waterford in the south of Ireland. Following manufacture of the components at GE’s onshore turbine fabrication facility in Salzbergen, Germany, they were scheduled for delivery to the port in two shipments in the summer of 2023.
“The tower sections and blades arrived on two vessels - the Rolldock Star in late July 2023 and Unistream in mid-August 2023,” Derek Madigan, terminal operations and business development manager at the Port of Waterford, explained. “The tower sections and blades were then discharged by two Liebherr mobile harbor port cranes, one of which had a 250-tonne capacity and the other 280-tonne.”
Ahead of discharge of the vessels and then storage and reloading of the individual items, the authorities at Port of Waterford forwarded risk assessments and method statements to the GE Wind surveyors and conducted detailed toolbox talks, preparing logs for handling equipment and lifting equipment, including spreader beams, chains, slings, and shackles.
Trailer Loading
With this work complete, the first tower sections were loaded on trailers and shunted to the Celtic Shipping Storage yard within the port environs, less than one kilometer from the quay.
“At the Celtic Shipping Storage yard, the tower sections were discharged by two 35-tonne Linde reachstackers from the trailers and placed in the allocated storage area for each of the five individual tower sections,” Madigan said. “The tower sections remained in the storage area until 48-64 hours prior to transport when the lifting frames and feet were removed to allow the trucks and trailers to clamp the tower section for delivery to the wind farm site.”
Upon arrival of the blades, they were transported from the vessels to the allocated storage area at the container terminal, less than 200 meters from where the ships were berthed and discharged. At the terminal, the blades were then stacked three high using two 35-tonne reachstackers and, when required, two 40-tonne long span gantry cranes.
“The blades were fitted with sensors while they were stored on quay,” Madigan said. “A set of three blades were made ready 24-48 hours in advance of collection by Collett, as frames had to be removed from the blades to allow transport to the wind farm site at Drumlins. The loading of the blades was done by the long-span gantry cranes on occasion, and at other times, if the gantry cranes were busy, both reachstackers were used.”
The blades then departed the port in the evening for overnight delivery with any obstacles between the container storage and the main road cleared in advance. This included comprehensive traffic management measures to facilitate the smooth exit of trucks and trailers from the port.
“The key to the success of the whole project from our point of view was the clear communication between the port stevedores and Collett Transport of what was required, when it was required and any changes to plans being quickly communicated,” Madigan said.
200-mile Journey
For the next phase of the project, Collett had to transport the components nearly 200 miles to the project site on the other side of Ireland. To ensure success, the team partnered with local heavy-lift specialists Exceptional Load Services, or ELS.
Edwin Sunderland, senior logistics consultant at ELS, played a critical role in this stage, securing necessary permits and liaising with local authorities, including arranging and coordinating with Garda (Irish police) escorts.
Given the scope for delay or disruption in crossing Ireland’s road network, Collett ensured the three drivers were highly skilled and well prepared; a high level of communication was sustained between all team members throughout the night move.
With the longest tower sections measuring 28 meters in length and the heaviest weighing 62 tonnes, Collett quickly recognized the importance of selecting the correct combination of trailers, opting for the well-tested Super Wing Carrier trailer for the tricky blade transport.
“We chose Super Wing Carriers due to their maneuverability,” Collett’s Edmondson said. “We have used them multiple times before and they are the only trailer that would get round the corners with the blades loaded. For the remaining tower sections components, we used Scheuerle and Nooteboom trailers as they are specialist equipment specifically used for tower section components.”
The team used flattop trailers for the additional 15-meter-long blade tip and tower clamp trailers for the various tower sections.
'Sharp Corners and Pinch Points’
Having set off from the Port of Waterford, the initial section was quick going, traveling along the major M1 and N2 routes to Monaghan Town, around 17 kilometers from the Drumlins Wind Farm Park. From there, the route became more arduous, however, as it switched along the R188, R183 and R189 via Swans Cross and Newbliss to the site entrance, traversing increasingly difficult terrain.
“The route from Monaghan onwards was specifically tricky with multiple sharp corners and pinch points along the route,” Edmondson said. “To tackle these challenges, the vehicles frequently had to slow to a walking pace and a mixture of experience, skill, communication and dedication was required to ensure the blades navigated each obstacle safely and in a timely manner.”
The first sections arrived at the site in September 2023 and construction quickly commenced on the first turbine with the successful installation of T6 completed in October - including tower, nacelle and blades. By the end of the year, a further three turbines were installed with four remaining to be finished in early 2024.
Hailing the successful arrival of the blades onsite, Energia Renewables Head of Construction Patrick Tierney said: “This was a significant milestone for the Drumlins Park Wind Farm construction team, bringing energization and the start of renewable electricity generation one step closer. In particular, I would like to thank our specialist hauler, Collett & Sons, together with everyone involved in the strategic and logistical planning of this project. It takes a lot of hard work, coordination, partnership working and meticulous detail to get these components to the site, while ensuring that disruption for road users and residents is kept to a minimum.”
The Drumlins Wind Park is scheduled to become commercially operational in 2024 with a Community Benefit Fund set to be established after one year, providing funding for initiatives in the local community and administered by an independent charitable foundation.
Collett and Scheuerle will be exhibiting at Breakbulk Europe 2024 on 21-23 May in Rotterdam.
GE Renewable Energy is a member of the Breakbulk Global Shipper Network.
